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[Rafael]

Laura, it´s great to know you had a great trip!

I don´t know if it was on thursday, but one of the days we were there, leaving the park, it started raining really bad. Luckly we were almost getting to the bus stop to go back to the hotel, otherwise, we would have soaked wet. However, we were so excited that the weather could not spoil our fun.

[Rafael]

Discoveryland!

[hootie]

Loving your trip report Rafael, the photos are amazing!!! Love how quiet Cheyenne looked. We went last May/June, but stayed in the Newport Bay, it was always full of people-as were the parks! we head back week after next with an extra kid in tow-so might see some of the Cheyenne then. We have booked a surprise extra night in the Santa Fe with no park tickets but the next morning move to the Disneyland Hotel-its all going to be a big surprise! I've been keeping it a secret. Think I'm looking forward to Nautilus most, especially after seeing your photos, it was closed last time we were there!!

[Rafael]

Hi Hootie!

I´m glad you like the report.

Did you like staying at Newport Bay? We visited the hotel and I thought it was really beautiful.
Staying at Disneyland Hotel must be amazing! I don´t know how you can keep it as a secret! It will be a wonderful surprise, no doubt!
I think you will like exploring Nautilus. Take your time and check all the great details they have put into it. I think it is a masterpiece. Actually, the whole park is full of "hidden" details, right?

[Rafael]

After Discoveryland, we decided to leave the park to explore the resort and visit the other hotels. Disneyland Hotel is very nice, but we both found Sequoia Lodge very cozy. I think we probably would stay there in another trip. Newport Bay is also beautiful. I liked the concept of Santa Fe, but I think it really needs a refurbishment. The buildings are showing their age.
Unfortunately the weather wasn´t the best, very windy, and we ended up giving up visiting Hotel New York and we went back to the hotel to rest a bit before returning to the park. I regreat not having visited the hotel, but I think taking a break from the parks was good (actually it was a tip from one of the posts I had read here at the forum). I think it helped because we weren´t feeling tired in the afternoon when we got back to the park and were more willing to enjoy the park till it closed.
When we got to the park, we decided to get something to eat and we went to Pizzeria Bella Notte. As it was almost 3pm, it wasn´t busy, so were were able to observe all the details of the place. It is really well designed, full of magic. Helio had Penne Napolitana, with garlic bread and I had Pizza Royale, with the green salad and tiramisu. I had read the food usually comes cold, but it wasn´t the case at all. It was the perfect temperature and both dishes were nice. The pizza is pretty big, so is the penne box, so I think maybe the  2 menus we ordered could easily be shared by 3 people. The tiramisu wasn´t that good, but the garlic bread was very nice. The castmembers were very friendly and the place was clean. A different experience from the one we had at Toad Hall, with all the litter on the floor.
After eating, we explored Fantasyland and we did most of the rides there. The first one was Peter Pan flight. As it was only a 20-min-queue, we didn´t get fastpass. The queue was actually much faster than that and we had to wait only about 12 minutes.
As the queue is usually huge and people always talk a lot about it, I think we both had a high expectation about it. We both tought the ride was good, but maybe not as good as we imagined it would be. We had fun though. After that we rode Pinochio (not much to say, not that good) and Snow White. For both rides, we had to wait for about 5 minutes. As I wasn´t expecting much from Snow White, I ended up enjoying it more that I thought I would. However, I think it can be really scary for young children.
Next was Small World, which was also a walk-on. I have to confess that I liked the ride quite a lot. It is what it is, but fun anyway. A great escape from the rain outside and also from reality. I don´t need to say that I´m singing that song until today, do I?
After Small World we rode the Tea Cups. Fun, not much, but fun. The place is beautiful though. The ceiling is amazing.
I don´t remember exacly what we did after that, but I guess as it was raining a little bit, we explored the castle one more time, before heading to main street to wait for the Aurora show and Fantillusion. Before Fantillusion, we took some time to see all the details at Liberty Arcade. I love the arcades. Besides being beautiful and with great details, they are so great when the weather is bad or when it is very crowded outside.  Actually, even when the weather was good, we spent some time there, checking the details while drinking a nice hot chocolate from the deli.
Well, What can I say about Fantillusion? I really wish I had liked it more, but unfortunately I think it lacks something. Maybe it was the weather, but I think there was no magic. It felt like they were doing it just because they had to, not because they wanted to. Therefore, the energy that you got from parade was not that great. Not that it was bad or anything, but I can´t say that it was memorable.

[hootie]

We did stay at the Newport Bay Rafael-it was a present from the inlaws(great inlaws I have). They paid for our hotel, and wanted us to stay there. I loved it, but it is enormous, and was always packed with people. I have recommended it to a few friends who are going this year!. I'm very excited about the Disneyland Hotel, only reason we are going there is because there was a 40% off offer, and kids under 12 are free, so we are taking our daughter and niece. Saying that we are going for one day less than we had originally decided, so hopefully the parks won't be too busy!

[Rafael]

Hootie, I noticed when we were visiting the hotels that Newport Bay was the busiest one, really packed. Is it people´s favorite?
I can imagine how excited you must be about Disneyland Hotel. I think even if the park is busy you will have a great time!

[Rafael]

Check it out how busy Pizzeria Bella Notte was!
Empty, both times we had meals there. Maybe it was the time we went, the first time, around 3pm and the second time about 11am.

[Rafael]

As I had said before, the weather wasn´t very good the afternoon we spent doing the rides of Fantasyland (day 2), so I didn´t get to take many pictures. Therefore I decided to take advantage of EMH the next day to take more photos of the land.

Fantasyland!

[Rafael]

Day 3!

We had breakfast at 7.00 and it was even quieter than the 2 days before.
Helio had a headache, so he decided to stay a little longer in the hotel while I went to the park by myself to take advantage of EMH and take some pictures, especially Fantasyland. About 10.00 I returned to the hotel and as Helio was better, we went to the park. We rode Big Thunder Mountain and it was awesome. I wish we had ridden it again before leaving
We spent the afternoon at the Studios. We watched the parade, CinéMagique, Moteurs...Action! and Animagique. We also went to Armaggedon and The Art of Animation.
The parade was a nice surprise, I really liked it. I had already read that CinéMagique was great and it didn´t disappoint. Amazing show, really moving. Moteurs...Action! is interesting, but not exciting enough to make me want to watch it again. I thought Animagique was very disappointing. It could have been a better show, maybe with a better script.
The pre-show of Armaggedon was quite boring and lasted longer than I thought it should, but I think the cast-member did a good job trying to make the whole thing more interesting than it really was. The special effects were intense and I saw a couple of children crying by the end of the show. Actually, I don´t think parents should allow their children to go in. Too scary for them, I guess.
I only went to Tower of Terror the next day and I loved it. Great attraction. Helio didn´t feeling like going. He is not crazy about the whole dropping thing.
I thought the Toy Story Playland was nice, good theming and all, but I think the rides aren´t what we expect from Disney.
I understand the attractions of the park are held in buildings that are supposed to look like a studio, but is it really exciting for a theme park?
I really think it should have a body of water, because there is too much concrete.
On the other hand, I think the entrace is really charming.

[Rafael]

Before I post about our last day at Disneyland Park (day 4), let me show you some of the pictures I took of Adventureland:

[Rafael]

Time to say good-bye...

Day 4 started with bad weather, but it did not prevent me from going to the park early, at 8.00. Helio decided to stay in the hotel a little bit more. Well, it was kinda dark, raining and when I got to the park I noticed I had forgotten to charge the camera.
As we had to leave the room until 11, I decided to go back to the hotel to charge the camera and hope the rain would stop. Luckly the rain did stop and we left the room about 10.15. We left our bags at Cheyenne and went to the park for the last time
We visited Alice´s Curious Labyrinth, explored La Cabane des Robinson and Le Passage Enchanté dÁladdin and rode one last time Pirates and Phanton Manor.
It´s great going on rides, but it is also awesome just walking around, soaking up the park atmosphere. It has such a great design and so many things to look at and admire. Then we left the main park and went to the studios for the last time. We had lunch there and walked around the park a bit. I went to Tower of Terror by myself (Helio didn´t feel like going) and it was the last ride of the trip.

Next I will try to post my top 10 attractions, wishes and more pictures.

[Rafael]

My top 10 attractions:

1 - Big Thunder Mountain
2 - Pirates of the Caribbean
3 - Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant / La Tanière du Dragon
3 - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
4 - Phantom Manor
5 - CinéMagique
6 - Space Mountain: Mission 2
7 - Les Mystères du Nautilus
8 - La Cabane des Robinson / Adventure Isle
9 - It´s a Small World
10 - Peter Pan´s flight

[Rafael]

5 things I loved about Disneyland Paris:

- Liberty and Discovery Arcades
- Fantasia Gardens
- Walking under Disneyland Hotel to enter the park
- Jules Verne theme in Discoveryland  
- the way lands blend smoothly

[Rafael]

More pictures: